


I Would Kill For You

by foreveragain87



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: M/M, Murder, Sexual Assault
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2019-02-09 05:48:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12881460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foreveragain87/pseuds/foreveragain87
Summary: The unthinkable has happened and somebody has hurt Loras.  How will Renly Baratheon handle it?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please be forewarned that there is a sexual assault in Chapter 2.

Loras sat on the stone ledge of the large window within Renly’s bedroom chamber. He had one leg pulled in toward his chest and the other stretched out straight, taking up the entire length of the window seat. From his favorite perch this high up in the castle, he could look out upon the vast terrain of Storm’s End. He gazed out over and past the 40-foot stone security wall that protected them from enemy attack and could see the rough sea churning below. He stared down as the white breakers crashed against the jagged rocks at the edge of a cliff, producing a spray of sea that flew several feet up into the air.

As Loras was lost in his own thoughts, Renly was on the other side of the room finishing getting ready for the Small Council meeting scheduled that day. As he looked at his own image in the glass mirror, he could see the reflection of Loras behind him sitting on the window ledge.

Annoyed at seeing him in that spot yet again, Renly spun around on his heels. “Loras!” The squire jolted in surprise at having been brought back from his deep thoughts.

“How many times have I told you NOT to sit on that ledge? If you were to fall asleep or lose your balance you’d be dead from a fall at this height! Not even the most agile cat could survive a fall from this high up.”

Loras scowled at the utter ridiculousness of him actually falling out of the window, but hopped down reluctantly from the ledge as requested.

Renly fought back a smile at the image of the pouty, soon-to-be-knight before him. He was a young man now, and yet still child-like in so many ways. Loras’s days of squiring were coming to a close as he was now old enough to be knighted, but their relationship was to continue as it always had. Loras’s plan was to remain at Renly’s side at all times, squire or not. And since their relationship had changed from platonic to intimate over the past year, it made sense to both of them to remain inseparable.

Renly turned back to inspect his reflection in the mirror one more time before leaving. Still standing by the window, Loras could hear a horse whinny and looked down to see the new stablehand bringing one of Renly’s mares around. Loras grimaced upon the sight of the man. He was dirty and stunk to high heaven whenever you got within 20 feet of him. He had long greasy hair, deep crevices in his face, and had the cruelest eyes Loras had ever seen. Just then, as if sensing eyes upon him, the stablehand looked up and made direct eye contact with Loras. He sneered the most unpleasant smile and Loras quickly jumped back and out of view of the window. He felt his pulse quicken at the look he had just received. There was something about that man that he disliked intensely.

“Renly? That temporary stablehand…he won’t be here very long, will he?”

“Hmmm? Oh, you mean Edrick? Well, I guess he’ll be here until our regular stablehand recovers from whatever ailment got the better of him. The maester said he should be feeling better soon and back to work within a few weeks. But until then Edrick will be with us.” Renly placed the hairbrush down on the dresser and turned around. “Why? Is something wrong?”

Loras shook his head dismissively. “No…just wondering,” he stated quietly. “He just…he smells awful.”

Renly walked toward him with a smile. “Well, I presume he has some sort of strange aversion to soap and water. But the horses don’t seem to mind.” Renly chuckled a little at his joke and placed both hands on his squire’s waist as he prepared to say his goodbye.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” Loras asked while placing his own two arms around the older man’s neck.

Renly smiled at him - a smile that never failed to melt Loras’s heart whenever he was on the receiving end of it. “You know that I would love for you to come with me, but these meetings drone on for so long and they always end with my brother Robert becoming drunk and belligerent. And I know you’d enjoy yourself much more if you stayed here and took the day for yourself.”

Loras’s face brightened a bit. While he loved being Renly’s squire and accompanying him on his many trips and meetings, it left little free time during the day to do anything else. So Renly’s gift of granting him a day off was a welcomed surprise.

“You can go swimming, or climb the rocks along the cliff….do whatever you want. Just be careful, please. I don’t want to come home and find you’ve fallen and broken your arm or suffered some other sort of catastrophe!” Renly finished with a grin.

Loras laughed and Renly pulled him in tighter, placing one hand behind Loras’s head and the other firmly around the small of his back. “I will see you this evening when I return home. I’ll try not to be too late - promise you’ll stay awake for me?” Renly asked.

“I’ll try,” was the reply as Loras smiled and buried his head within his lover’s neck, allowing the older man to gently stroke his long golden hair and down the back of his neck. Renly took his hand and lifted the squire’s chin up so that he could properly kiss him goodbye. It was a long and strong kiss, the kind of kiss Renly preferred. He explored Loras’s mouth longingly with his tongue before finishing with a few quick and final pecks to his lips.

“I’ll see you tonight, Loras,” he stated. And with that, Renly took his leave.


	2. Chapter 2

Loras spent the better part of the day outside on the grounds of Storm’s End. It had been a warm and sunny day and he had not wasted a single second of the beautiful weather, preferring to be outdoors and away from the dank gloom of the castle. At this time the sun was just beginning to lower in the sky and Loras decided to walk around toward the west side of the property to take in the sunset before retiring to Renly’s chamber to wait for his Lord’s arrival home. As he walked passed the stables, he heard a gruff and gravely voice call out behind him.

“You! You boy – come here and help me!”

Loras turned around to see the stableman standing there with an assortment of horse reigns, ropes, and other supplies in his arms. Loras stood still for a moment, not particularly wanting to have to interact with the malodorous and unpleasant man.

“Cat got your tongue, boy?! I’m talking to you! Come here and help me,” the stableman barked out once more.

Loras slowly walked toward the man. As Renly Baratheon’s sworn squire, if another servant of Storm’s End required assistance, it was his duty to lend a hand, no matter how distasteful the other servant might be.

“What do you want, Edrick?” Loras asked curtly.

“Here – take these,” the man stated as he shoved some of the horse supplies into Loras’s arms. “Now come with me. I have to hang everything up so I can lock up the stable for the night.”

Loras reluctantly followed him, attempting to stay as far behind him as he could as they made their way toward the back of the stable where the supplies were housed. Even with keeping his distance Loras could smell the stench that wafted off of the man - a sickening combination of sweat, filth and alcohol creating a nauseating aroma. He watched as the man swayed while attempting to keep his balance. Loras wondered how the man managed to accomplish any of his tasks while being as intoxicated as he was.

Once at the rear of the stable, Loras looked around for a place to put the items down. Off in the corner was a wooden bench and he proceeded to place the items down there. As he stood back upright, he felt a firm hand grasping his right shoulder. The foul smell of the stablehand was almost overpowering at this point and Loras immediately pivoted to take his leave.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa…where you going so quick? You haven’t helped me put the supplies away?” Edrick continued to encroach upon Loras’s personal space and the squire was becoming not only annoyed, but quite uncomfortable at his forwardness.

“That’s not my job,” Loras stated looking over his shoulder. “That’s YOUR job.”

Keeping a firm grip on his shoulder, Edrick leaned in close to Loras’s ear. “So…what exactly is YOUR job? What is it you do to Lord Renly to keep him so happy?” A low and dark laugh emerged from the man’s throat as he took the index finger of his right hand and began to run it down the side of Loras’s face. “My, you’re a pretty one, aren’t you?” he cackled. “I can see why the Lord of Storm’s End is so smitten with you.”

Feeling his heart rate quicken and realizing he might have made a mistake by assisting the man in the first place, Loras wrenched his arm away and broke free of the stablehand’s grip. As he took a few quick strides towards the front of the stable, he felt Edrick’s arms grab him about the throat and chest, yanking him backwards.

“Get off of me! Get the fuck off!” Loras shouted while trying to break free of the man’s stronghold. Edrick was far stronger than he looked – stronger, taller, heavier and older, and the two went back and forth for a few moments with Loras attempting to pull his way loose and Edrick always managing to regain control at the last second.

Sensing this was a battle he was not in a position to win easily, Loras screamed at the top of his lungs for help in hopes that perhaps one of the kitchen servants might be near enough to hear him. Edrick grabbed Loras from behind and clamped his left hand tightly over the squire’s mouth and nose, preventing him from screaming as well as breathing.

“Shut up, you! I have a knife in my pocket…and if you scream like that again I will slice your throat from ear to ear and leave you right here for Lord Baratheon to find! Do you hear me, boy?”

Loras quickly nodded as he began to feel true panic setting in. He frantically grabbed at Edrick’s forearms in an attempt to remove them from his mouth and nose so he could at least breathe again. Upon feeling the older man’s grasp loosen slightly, Loras decided to make one more attempt at breaking free. Years of training had drilled into his head that you never give up and you always fight to the finish - and that instinct kicked in at this moment in full force. Loras took the opportunity to jab his elbow back quickly into the man’s ribcage as he simultaneously attempted to kick upwards and back, hoping to land somewhere in between the man’s legs, thus giving him the chance to run into the castle for safety.

Loras’s elbow landed exactly where he wanted it to, taking Edrick off guard for the moment, and while he missed his mark on the kick he was able to break free and sprinted halfway across the large stable. Just then, Loras felt the collar of his shirt being pulled from behind and he was wrenched backwards, hearing the sound of all the stitching being pulled loose on his shirt as it choked him at the same time. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Edrick’s arm raised high and he braced himself for the strike that he knew was about to come. Loras fell backwards and temporarily saw nothing but blackness as his body reacted to the blow to the left side of his face. Momentarily dazed and confused, Loras blinked several times as his focus began to return, his vision cleared, and the stable stopped spinning. He was lying on a pile of hay and could see Edrick staggering angrily above him, taking a long swig from his flask.

“You stupid little fool!” Edrick slurred as he tried to steady himself on his own two feet. Within a second the stablehand was down on the ground and had flipped Loras over onto his stomach and pushed his head down to the ground forcefully. “You make one more sound, or make one more move like that again and I swear…I swear I will kill you!”

Loras had no doubt that he meant it and every muscle in his body tensed as he felt his britches being forcibly yanked down to his knees. He closed his eyes tight, balled up his fists, buried his face in the hay, and prayed to the gods that it would be over soon. As the assault carried on, and in an effort to cope, Loras tried to pretend that it wasn’t happening at all and that it was simply Renly with him. He began an internal dialogue in his head to calm himself “ _It’s okay. I’m okay. It’s only Renly…it’s only Renly.”_ He repeated the chant silently at first, and then began to say it softly out loud – over and over and over.

As the attack neared its end, Loras could taste a bit of vomit rise into his own mouth as he was painfully aware of what was happening at that moment. The sickening stench of the man intertwined with the physical pain had risen to the level where Loras wasn’t sure he could take much more, when suddenly he felt the man’s rise to his feet.

Trying to stifle a sob, Loras looked over his shoulder to survey the situation. His left eye was already beginning to swell, but he could see that Edrick was fastening his pants. Loras quickly scrambled to his feet, adjusted his own britches as best he could and bolted as fast as humanly possible out of the stable, stumbling and falling twice in his haste before making it out fully…all the while hearing snickering from behind him.

Loras ran as fast as his unsteady legs could take him toward the entrance of the castle. He burst through the door, up the stairs and down the long hall until he came to Renly’s chamber. He wanted Renly…he NEEDED Renly. He threw the chamber door open, looking frantically from side to side to see if his Lord was there.

To Loras’s dismay, Renly was nowhere to be found.


	3. Chapter 3

Renly gazed out the open window of the horse drawn carriage, looking up at the nighttime sky as he made his way home for the evening. The sky was so black that hundreds of twinkling stars could easily be seen. The large moon was full and bright and a more perfect evening could not have been imagined he thought to himself.

Renly looked over at the empty space beside him in the carriage, wishing that he had brought Loras along with him after all. This was exactly the kind of night that was best spent with the person you love. It was pitch dark outside and nobody would ever see Renly’s arm around Loras’s shoulder, his hand on the squire’s thigh, or the soft kisses that he would certainly be placing on his neck…if only Loras were actually here with him.

Renly sighed, closed his eyes, and sat back in his seat for the remainder of the trip. He would be home soon and hopefully, with any luck, Loras had kept his promise and would be waiting up for him upon his arrival.

As the carriage pulled up to the main entrance of the castle, the Lord of Storm’s End dismounted, thanked the driver, and made his way inside his home. All seemed quiet at this hour, the servants all having retired to bed by this time.

Renly quietly entered his bedroom chamber, immediately looking in the direction of his bed. He assumed that Loras would be fast asleep in the center of it, as was usually the case with late night meetings. But to his surprise the bed was empty. He blinked and attempted to adjust his eyes to the candlelit room when he noticed the silhouette sitting on the window ledge.

Renly walked quickly toward the window, sighing with frustration at Loras yet again not listening to him. “Loras! How many times have I told you not to…”

Renly stopped short, sensing from Loras’s body language that something was not right. He was sitting with both knees pulled in tight against his chest, his arms wrapped around his legs, fists clenched, and his head bowed down.

“Loras? Is something wrong?”

Loras raised his face slowly upward, revealing a swollen left eye. Renly sat down on the ledge beside him and reached out to touch his squire’s face before Loras winced and pulled away.

“What happened, Loras? Did you fall? Please tell me what happened,” a concerned Renly begged.

Loras pondered the question for a moment. One part of him wanted to fall into Renly’s strong arms and tell him everything that happened. But the other part of him never wanted Renly to know. Loras was embarrassed and afraid at what would happen once his Lord found out. Would Renly believe him? Would Renly think it was somehow Loras’s fault? Would Edrick find out he had told and hurt him again? Perhaps just a lie about falling off the rocks would suffice. And then, after the regular stablehand returned to his post and Edrick was gone, Loras could put it all behind him and pretend it had never happened at all.

While Loras waged an internal battle of how to best answer the question, Renly took the time to study Loras in full as his eyes had now fully adjusted to the candlelight. In addition to the swollen eye that was already showing signs of bruising, his shirt had been ripped completely at the collar, he had dried blood around his mouth and lips, and he had quite a bit of hay clinging to his clothes as well as tangled in his long hair. It was clear to Renly that something had happened near or within the stable.

“Loras,” Renly started out calmly, but sternly. “You need to tell me what happened.” Loras looked up at him with burning eyes that were about to overflow with tears that he had been fighting back.

“Who did this to you, Loras?” Renly choked upon saying the words, starting to put the puzzle pieces together based on Loras’s physical appearance as well as his demeanor. “Who hurt you?”

Loras bowed his head down, not wanting to look Renly directly in the eyes. “Edrick,” he replied so softly it was almost inaudible.

Renly swallowed hard upon hearing the name.

“I’m so sorry,” Loras sobbed, not able to keep his emotions in check any longer. “He asked me to help him in the stable and I…I…” Loras brought his hands up to cover his face. “I don’t know what happened! I screamed for help but I….I thought he was going to kill me!”

Renly felt his tiny hairs on the back of his neck began to stand on end and he sensed a rush of fiery heat pulse through his entire body. Somebody had hurt Loras…HIS Loras. The most precious thing in the world to him had been harmed. Renly rose to his feet while the reality of the situation became clearer to him.

“I want you to stay here, Loras. I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going? Please don’t leave me,” Loras cried out as he grabbed Renly by the arm in an attempt to keep him near.

Renly bent over and cupped Loras’s face with both hands. “It’s okay. I promise I’ll be right back,” a slight catch clearly audible in his usually calm voice.

Renly swiftly exited his room. With each pounding step he took down the long hallway he felt his blood begin to boil, his heart rate increase, and he could feel a throbbing between his ears. Never in his life had he felt rage such as this. And while he did not fully know what he was going to say or do to Edrick yet, one thing was very certain – that vile man would be leaving Storm’s End tonight and would never return.

After making his way outside of the castle and toward the stable, Renly approached the small lodging cottage where Edrick was temporarily staying. He kicked the door in, breaking it from its wooden frame in the process, and stormed into the small room. There he found Edrick, sitting on the side of his bed, flask in hand and clearly intoxicated.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?!” Renly screamed, so overcome with wrath that he wasn’t even sure he could keep his emotions in check to fully discuss the matter.

Edrick sneered and took a long drink from his flask before addressing the Lord of Storm’s End. “Ahhh, I see your little pet told you of our meeting. ”

Renly’s fists were balled up and the urge to simply pound the man’s face into a bloody pulp was overwhelming. “So you admit it?! You put your hands on him…You hurt him! You had NO right to do that!”

Edrick scoffed and placed the flask on the nightstand as he rose to his feet. “And you, Lord Renly? Have you not put your hands on him yourself?”

“How dare you question me! I have never, EVER hurt Loras,” Renly returned. He fumed while trying to figure out how best to proceed. Renly was a man of logical thinking and reason. He despised violence…hated the sight of blood…and could generally see no reason to turn to physical violence when conversation and compromise were available. But Edrick clearly was not a man with whom intellectual conversation would have much effect.

Edrick continued on. “Perhaps…but the boy’s just a lowly squire…his sole purpose here is to do your bidding. Is that not that right, Lord Renly?” he sneered. “Are you telling me he doesn’t do your bidding and please you at night when you take him into your bed?”

Renly’s face reddened with rage at the man’s attempt to deflect what happened. His relationship with Loras was completely consensual and based on love. What Edrick did was depraved, hateful and beyond comprehension to Renly.

“Anyway, I don’t think he was disappointed by the end,” the stablehand continued on before Renly could form a reply. “Although I do believe I heard him call your name out at one point.” Edrick snickered nastily at his last comment, knowing full well the emotional torment it was causing the Lord of Storm’s End.

The vile comment was the last straw for Renly and indicated the conversation had come to an end. Renly lunged forward like a mad direwolf out to kill its prey. While his initial instinct had been to terminate the man and remove him from the property, that was no longer going to be enough to squelch the flames that had been set off in the pit of Renly’s stomach.

The two became embroiled in a back and forth of swings and punches, some missed and some that made contact. Renly could count the number of fist fights he had engaged in his entire life on one hand. Violence had never been something he gravitated toward. Aside from a few scraps as a young boy, he had always managed to steer clear of such rowdy behavior. So he was already at a disadvantage in taking on Edrick – a man who had obviously had his fair share of alcohol-ridden brawls.

Edrick landed a hard punch to Renly’s chest and the two ended up tumbling to the ground where their scramble continued. Renly quickly found himself in the disadvantaged position of being on his back and was making little ground on getting the upper hand. After some back and forth struggling, he felt Edrick’s hands clamp tightly around his throat. He began to cough and gasp as the older man attempted to choke him while simultaneously banging his head off the ground. Sensing the seriousness of the situation, Renly reached over his head in an attempt to grab at anything that might be handy to aid him. He felt a hard, solid object and while he had no idea what it was, he grabbed it with his right hand and took a clean, strong swing, striking Edrick on the side of the head with the object.

Renly quickly scrambled to his feet as he looked down at the mallet he was holding in his right hand. He stood panting heavily over the stablehand and could see a large amount of blood coming from the side of his head and just above his eye. A sense of panic at seeing so much blood began to set in. _“What the fuck have I done?”_ he thought to himself. Edrick was the lowest scum of the earth, but his original intentions were never to seriously wound him.

As Renly stared down and tried to assess how to handle the situation, Edrick looked up at him somewhat dazed. He was clearly injured and was losing a great deal of blood, but the nasty sneer remained evident on his face as he continued to laugh under his breath at Renly’s obvious nervousness. “You look as scared as a little girl, Lord Renly. Afraid of a little blood, eh? You’ve never even been in a proper fight before, have you?” he chastised. “If I wasn’t so drunk, _you'd_  be the one on the floor with a gash to your skull…I’d show you how a _real_  man fights,” he laughed weakly.

“You’re a sorry excuse for a human being and I want you the hell off my property!” Renly shouted while glaring down at him.

“Afraid of a little competition are ya, Lord Renly? Afraid your little rose might have actually liked being with a REAL man?” he taunted.

“Shut up!” Renly yelled back.

“Oh, but you should have heard him! _‘Renly! Help me, Renly!_ ’” the stablehand jeered in a high mocking voice.

“I’m warning you! SHUT THE FUCK UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP OR I’LL KILL YOU!” Renly began to feel something unhinge within his own mind. His body started to shake with uncontrollable rage.

“Ha! Kill me?” the stablehand scoffed and carried on. “Don’t make me laugh – you don’t have it in you.”

Renly felt his body sway as he tried to maintain his balance. One more sickening comment or taunt out of that man’s mouth and he knew he would snap.

Edrick let out a cruel laugh and stared directly into Renly’s eyes. “Oh, you should have heard him scream while I raped him!”

Glaring down at the man with a sense of bitter hatred he had never felt toward anyone before, Renly felt himself completely unravel. He raised the mallet high over his head while spitting on Edrick’s face. “You worthless piece of shit! You will NEVER hurt anybody again!” he screamed. And with those final words, he swung the mallet down and dealt a hard blow to Edrick’s head, thus finishing him off for good.

Renly stood completely still as he stared down at the now lifeless body. He suddenly felt numb for the first time since Loras told him what happened…all the rage had disappeared and numbness had suddenly replaced it. He stood silently, needing a moment to process what had just happened. He looked down at his right arm and hand that was splattered with blood and quickly dropped the mallet to the ground. A large pool of blood was collecting around the stablehand’s head and Renly’s initial feeling of numbness was quickly turning to panic. A wave of nausea rose up from his stomach and he looked away from the scene. He had just killed a man. He had not planned to do it, but nonetheless the man’s life was gone.

Renly startled and turned sharply as he heard footsteps enter the small lodging cottage. The Baratheon family’s long-time groundskeeper stepped through the kicked in and broken door. “Lord Renly – are you okay? I heard shouting and came as quick as I…” The man stopped short upon seeing Edrick’s lifeless body on the floor.

“I need your help,” Renly pleaded in a fast and shaky voice while placing his trembling hand on the groundskeeper’s shoulder. The old man had known Renly since he was a small child, having initially worked for his parents, Steffon and Cassana Baratheon, before their passing. Renly had kept the old man on ever since due to his loyalty to the Baratheon family and he knew he could trust the man completely.

“Of course, My Lord,” the groundskeeper replied. “Anything you need. You know the amount of gratitude I have for you. You’ve kept me employed all these years when anyone else would have tossed me aside due to my age. I’ve been able to feed my family due to your graciousness. Just tell me how I can help you.”

Renly stated his instructions to the old man. He was to take one of the small boats tied up at the dock, row Edrick’s body out a good safe distance, and deposit him overboard into the sea. Edrick was a wanderer with no family so there would be little chance of anybody ever questioning what happened to him.

The old man nodded his understanding of the task at hand. “You have my word, My Lord. I will handle the matter…discreetly. I have no doubt it was self-defense as you are not a man of violence.”

Renly paused for a moment at the irony of the statement. It was true. He wasn’t a man of violence…not until today at least. “I will say this…the world is a far safer place without him in it, I can promise you that.” Renly paused to take a breath and continued.  
“I suppose one is never truly aware of what they’re capable of…until the one they love has been hurt,” he stated softly.

“Yes, My Lord. I believe that to be very true,” the groundskeeper stated gently and nodded in agreement.

Renly assisted the man in carrying the body down to the boat and helped him launch it into the water. He stood at the shoreline for a few minutes, watching the silhouette of the small boat eventually slip into the darkness until it could no longer be seen. He knew the loyal groundskeeper would complete the unpleasant assignment and take this secret to the grave with him. Renly closed his eyes, took in a large breath of sea air, and exhaled slowly in an attempt to calm his nerves.

And with that final detail being taken care of, Renly turned away from the shoreline and made his way back into the castle to tend to Loras.


	4. Chapter 4

Loras anxiously lifted his head up upon hearing the chamber room door finally open. He watched as the Lord of Storm’s End entered the room, his face pale, eyes fixed and dark, and his white shirt covered in blood. As Loras rose from the window ledge and stepped forward he could see blood spatter across one side of Renly’s face as well.

“Wha…what happened?” Loras asked, his eyes darting back and forth as he stared into Renly’s eyes, trying to find an answer in them.

Renly shook his head solemnly. “It doesn’t matter right now,” he replied softly while placing his right hand on Loras’s cheek. “But everything has been taken care of. You will never see him again. And he will never… _EVER_ …hurt you or anyone else.”

Loras opened his mouth to question him further when Renly placed his finger to the squire’s lips to silence him. Tonight was not the time to discuss the matter any further. Renly then ran his hands down Loras’s arms, squeezing them tightly as he did so. “He’s gone and I want every remnant and memory of this night to be gone as well.”

As he spoke, a few servants had entered the room with a tub and began to fill it with large buckets of warm water. Renly paced back and forth for several minutes while the task was being completed. Once the tub had been filled to an adequate level, Renly dismissed the servants for the evening and locked the door behind them. He then walked over to Loras and gently pulled the ripped shirt up and over his head and then assisted him in removing his boots and pants.

“Come,” Renly motioned in the direction of the tub. He held onto Loras’s arm as he entered the tub as he was still clearly shaken from the whole experience. Loras sat down and a small sigh of relief escaped his lips as the heated water immediately soothed his sore body and tense muscles. He layed back while closing his eyes and let out a deep exhale. For the first time that evening, he finally felt a sense of relief and safety.

Renly knelt beside the tub and picked up a scrub brush. His goal was to wash every trace of that man from his partner’s body and he roughly ran the brush across Loras’s skin in an attempt to do so. He prayed that somehow the mental image that had been burned into his mind of that depraved man’s hands on Loras would get washed away as well.

A grunt of discomfort caused Renly to look up from his task. He noticed the grimace on Loras’s face. Sensing he was scrubbing him raw in his haste, he placed the scrub brush down and picked up a soft cloth to use in its place. He delicately dabbed at the swollen eye and split lip with the wet cloth, to which Loras initially recoiled from due to the sting it produced. Once he had tended to every part of Loras from head to toe, he looked down at his own unkempt appearance. For the first time he realized that his shirt was covered in blood. In his frenetic desire to remove every trace of Edrick permanently, once and for all, Renly pulled the shirt off over his head so swiftly one would think it had been burning his skin. He quickly marched over to the fireplace and threw the shirt into the center of the flames. He stood for a moment and watched the fabric quickly catch fire before disintegrating completely into ash.

Returning his focus back to the tub, Renly kicked off his own boots, removed his pants, and carefully slid in behind Loras so he could remove the remaining blood spatter from his chest, face and hands. He could visibly see his own hands trembling as he paid extra attention to removing the blood from his fingernails. Once removing as much of the blood as he possibly could, he pulled Loras in close to him, holding him firmly about the chest as Loras rested his head in the crook of Renly’s neck. And as Renly squeezed Loras tight, Loras in return pushed his own body back and as close to his partner as he possibly could within the small tub – each young man desperately needing the close physical contact that the other was providing.

As he held onto Loras tightly, Renly’s mind began to replay all the evening’s events – over and over again in a loop. He had killed a man – Renly Baratheon himself had killed a man! He almost laughed to himself at the thought. His brothers would never believe him. If Robert and Stannis were standing before him at this very moment, they would probably call him a liar or simply just laugh in his face. Their little brother, the youngest Baratheon, who gagged at the sight of blood, despised hunting and killing for sport and gravitated toward compromise before violence had just killed a man in cold blood. The irony of it all was not lost on Renly.

After some time, and noticing that the temperature of the water was beginning to cool, Renly removed himself from the tub, wrapped a towel around his waist, and then assisted Loras out as well. Noticing the shiver than ran through Loras’s body at the chill in the air from being wet, he quickly grabbed another towel and wrapped it firmly around Loras. “Get into bed Loras. I’ll be right there.” Loras and made his way over to Renly’s bed, dropped the towel on the floor, and climbed in under the many warm blankets.

Renly dried himself off before proceeding over to the fireplace to add a few more logs and stoke the flames in an attempt to warm the room up a bit more. He then made his way toward the bed and slid under the covers as well, pulling Loras in as close as humanly possible. The shared closeness of their two bodies in conjunction with the many layers of blankets soon created a warm and comfortable space for them both.

Renly stroked Loras’s damp hair while keeping his other arm firmly around the squire’s waist. Somehow…someway…they would get through this together. With patience and time, Renly knew they would be okay. When and if Loras was ever ready to talk about it, Renly would be there to listen. But not tonight. He instinctively understood that the only thing Loras wanted to do tonight was to lie in silence in the strong arms of the person he loved most in this world. It was here that Loras felt safe and secure and…for right now…that was all that was needed.

Renly lay awake for quite some time that night, long after Loras’s breathing pattern indicated that he had fallen fast asleep. He continued to stroke Loras’s long hair, occasionally placing a light kiss atop of his head – being careful so as not to awaken him.

Renly stared at the hearth and watched as the orange and yellow flames flickered and danced about while the logs occasionally gave off a crackling and popping sound. Somehow his world had been completely turned upside down between the time he rose that very morning and now. He had always prided himself on being a man of reason, not brute force, but nevertheless he had single-handedly murdered a man with his own bare hands. And he knew he would do it again without hesitation – if he had to. Renly gazed over at his sleeping lover one more time before beginning to feel sleep slowly wash over him. “I love you, Loras. And as long as I am alive, nobody will ever hurt you again,” he whispered softly.

And with that, sleep overtook Renly as well.

_~Finis~_


End file.
